1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to motor vehicles and in particular to a traffic control database and distribution system for use with a motor vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
There have been systems developed to help prevent stop-sign violations. Those systems may be classified into map-based systems, camera-based systems; and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication based (V2I based).
Map-based systems may use a navigation system such as those based on Global Positioning System (GPS), to continually locate the vehicle on a map. The map may also be supplemented with information on traffic signs, including locations of stop-signs. Map-based systems may recognize that a vehicle is approaching a stop-sign controlled intersection and generate a warning if corrective action is warranted.
Camera-based systems use cameras to recognize signs and react to likely violations.
V2I-based systems such as the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP) consortium's Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System Limited to Stop Sign and Traffic Signal Violations (CICAS-V), may rely on communication between units associated with the road infrastructure and vehicles to generate a warning. In these systems, the road infrastructure may transmit, among other information, detailed geometry maps of stop-sign equipped intersections in the area. Vehicles may receive and store these maps. Further, the vehicles may continually monitor their own location and when they detect that they are approaching a stop-sign intersection without the driver's intending to stop, a warning may be generated, or a corrective action may be issued.
Map-based systems may require specially supplementing the maps with traffic sign information, including sign location. Such systems may offer only limited geographic coverage or become out of date.
Camera-based systems require camera equipment. The performance of camera equipment degrades in certain conditions such as light extremes, fog, rain, and snow. Cameras are also limited by their line of sight. Performance degrades when signs are visually obstructed, e.g., by trees or other vehicles.
Required infrastructure of V2I solutions does not generally exist, being only available in prototype environments limited to neighborhoods of a handful of communities. It is widely believed that the investment required by government bodies to develop and install the infrastructure is likely to significantly lag V2V communication deployment by one or more original equipment manufacturers (OEMs, i.e., automakers).